Carlsbad Caverns

We had a really good time on our trip to New Mexico.  We saw some gorgeous sights and the kids still remember most of the educational stuff too!

We left Phoenix mid-afternoon and drove for six hours to Las Cruces, New Mexico. The highlight of the drive was a rest stop with a huge dirt pile and lots of black beetles.

We had a leisurely dinner at Iron Skillet. Least delicious meal of the whole trip.

 

Las Cruces comes up after an hour of driving through the desert. Rand wanted to take a picture of the lights.

Daisy was READY for bed when we got there!

The next morning we drove to a White Sands National Monument. It was stunning! It was hot and bright do we didn't stay too long, but the kids roles down the dunes and Doig jumped off of them and there was white sand all over the car.

We stopped at Caliche's for hot dogs and custard for lunch. They are apparently famous for their green chile custard but none of us were brave enough to order it. 

Our route to Carlsbad took us through the mountains; it was a slow drive but green and beautiful through several tiny mountain towns. We stopped for coffee at Plateau Coffee, where we had a splendid view.

There was a storm rolling in right as we got to Carlsbad, so we couldn't do much that night. But there was a gorgeous double rainbow at the end!